Speech and sound / Saṅgītaratnākara / 1.2.2 Phoneme, word, world
1.2.2
The Saṅgītaratnākara (सङ्गीतरत्नाकर)
नादेन व्यज्यते वर्णः पदं वर्णात्पदाद्वचः ।
वचसो व्यवहारोऽयं नादाधीनमतो जगत् nādena vyajyate varṇaḥ padaṃ varṇātpadādvacaḥ |
vacaso vyavahāro 'yaṃ nādādhīnamato jagat
The line
By nāda (नाद) a phoneme is manifested. From phonemes, a word. From words, the sentence. From the sentence, this conduct. Therefore the world depends on nāda (नाद).
नेपालीमा
नादबाट वर्ण प्रकट हुन्छ, वर्णबाट शब्द, शब्दबाट वाक्य, र वाक्यबाट यो व्यवहार हुन्छ। त्यसैले संसार नादमा अडिएको छ।
Where it sits
1.2.1 put song, instrument, and dance on nāda (नाद). This verse puts ordinary speech on it too, and then the world. The grammarian's book asks what the word in that chain is. 1.44 sets two words inside the word one uses, and 1.50 names sphoṭa (स्फोट) beside nāda (नाद). This verse names the chain and does not distinguish them.
Split: nādena (नादेन) + vyajyate (व्यज्यते) + varṇaḥ (वर्णः) + padam (पदम्) + varṇāt (वर्णात्) + padāt (पदात्) + vacaḥ (वचः) + vacasaḥ (वचसः) + vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः) + ayam (अयम्) + nāda-adhīnam (नाद-अधीनम्) + ataḥ (अतः) + jagat (जगत्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| nādena (नादेन) | instrumental singular, masculine | By nāda (नाद). |
| vyajyate (व्यज्यते) | present, third person singular, passive | Is manifested. From vi (वि) and the root añj (अञ्ज्). |
| varṇaḥ (वर्णः) | nominative singular, masculine | A phoneme. |
| padam (पदम्) | nominative singular, neuter | A word. From the phoneme, a word. The ablative varṇāt (वर्णात्) says from where. |
| varṇāt (वर्णात्) | ablative singular, masculine | From the phoneme. |
| padāt (पदात्) | ablative singular, neuter | From the word. Before vacaḥ (वचः) the t (त्) is heard as d (द्): padād vacaḥ (पदाद् वचः). |
| vacaḥ (वचः) | nominative singular, neuter | Speech, here the sentence. The stem is vacas (वचस्), and this is its nominative. The commentary glosses it vākyam (वाक्यम्). |
| vacasaḥ (वचसः) | ablative singular, neuter | From that sentence. Heard vacaso (वचसो) before vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः). |
| vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः) | nominative singular, masculine | Conduct. The business of the world that runs on speech. |
| ayam (अयम्) | nominative singular, masculine | This. Agrees with vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः). |
| nāda-adhīnam (नाद-अधीनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | Dependent on nāda (नाद). Agrees with jagat (जगत्). |
| ataḥ (अतः) | indeclinable | Therefore. |
| jagat (जगत्) | nominative singular, neuter | The world. |
The phrases
The chain runs upward in size. Nāda (नाद) manifests a phoneme. Phonemes make a word. Words make the sentence. The sentence makes this conduct.
The explicit nādādhīnam (नादाधीनम्) agrees with jagat (जगत्). The world, too, depends on nāda (नाद), because the chain does.
Sanskrit in this line
A final t (त्) before a voiced consonant is heard as d (द्). padāt (पदात्) plus vacaḥ (वचः) is padādvacaḥ (पदाद्वचः).
Vacasaḥ (वचसः) plus vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः). A visarga after short a (अ), before a voiced consonant, is heard as o (ओ): vacaso vyavahāraḥ (वचसो व्यवहारः).
Vyavahāraḥ (व्यवहारः) plus ayam (अयम्) is vyavahāro 'yam (व्यवहारोऽयम्). The a (अ) of ayam (अयम्) drops, and the visarga becomes o (ओ).
Nādādhīnam (नादाधीनम्) plus ataḥ (अतः) plus jagat (जगत्) is nādādhīnamato jagat (नादाधीनमतो जगत्). Same joining of a final m (म्) as in the verse before.
Say it back
Walk the chain from nāda (नाद) up to jagat (जगत्), and keep vacaḥ (वचः) in the chain.